Today, most companies would be severely hampered without the help of support workers solving problems with networks and computers, while recommending solutions to users on a day to day basis. The need for those individuals is growing at an impressive rate, as everywhere we work becomes vastly more technologically advanced.

Don't get hung-up, as a lot of students can, on the training process. Training is not an end in itself; this is about employment. You need to remain focused on where you want to go. Students often train for a single year but end up doing the actual job for 10-20 years. Don't make the error of choosing what sounds like an 'interesting' training program only to waste your life away with an unrewarding career!

You need to keep your eye on where you want to go, and build your study action-plan from that - don't do it the other way round. Keep your eyes on your goals and begin studying for a career you'll enjoy for years to come. Seek help from a skilled professional that appreciates the market you're interested in, and is able to give you 'A typical day in the life of' synopsis of what kinds of tasks you'll be undertaking with each working day. It makes good sense to know if this change is right for you before you jump into the study-program. What's the reason in beginning your training and then find you've taken the wrong route.

One thing you must always insist on is comprehensive 24x7 direct-access support from dedicated instructors and mentors. It's an all too common story to find providers that only provide support to you inside of office hours (typically 9am-6pm) and sometimes a little earlier or later (but not weekends usually). Beware of institutions which use 'out-of-hours' messaging systems - where you'll get called back during typical office hours. It's no use when you're stuck on a problem and could do with an answer during your scheduled study period.

If you look properly, you'll find the top providers that recommend and use online support 24x7 - including evenings, nights and weekends. If you accept anything less than 24x7 support, you'll regret it very quickly. It may be that you don't use it late in the night, but consider weekends, early mornings or late evenings.

Most trainers typically provide piles of reference manuals and workbooks. Learning like this is dull and repetitive and not ideal for taking things in. Studies have time and time again verified that an 'involved' approach to study, where we utilise all our senses, is proven to produce longer-lasting and deeper memory retention.

Interactive full motion video featuring instructor demo's and practice lab's will forever turn you away from traditional book study. And you'll find them fun and interesting. Make sure to obtain a study material demo' from your training provider. The materials should incorporate instructor videos, demonstrations, slide-shows and fully interactive skills-lab's.

You'll find that many companies will only provide just online versions of their training packages; and although this is okay the majority of the time, consider what happens if internet access is lost or you get slow speeds and down-time etc. A safer solution is the provision of DVD or CD discs which will solve that problem.

Getting into your first IT role can be a little easier with a Job Placement Assistance service. Ultimately it's not as hard as some people make out to find a job - as long as you're correctly trained and certified; because there's still a great need for IT skills in the UK today.

One important thing though, avoid waiting until you've finished your training before updating your CV. As soon as your training commences, enter details of your study programme and place it on jobsites! Getting onto the 'maybe' pile of CV's is more than not being known. A surprising amount of junior jobs are given to people (who've only just left first base.) Actually, a specialist independent regional employment service (who will get paid by the employer when they've placed you) should get better results than any sector of a centralised training facility. It also stands to reason that they'll know the local area and commercial needs.

Certainly be sure that you don't spend hundreds of hours on your training and studies, and then do nothing more and leave it in the hands of the gods to land you a job. Take responsibility for yourself and get on with the job. Channel as much time and energy into finding a good job as it took to get qualified.

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